


In Case of Emergency

by JustDrinkTea



Category: Captive Prince - C. S. Pacat
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Bad Pick-Up Lines, Drabble, Firefighter Damen, Fireman Damen, Humor, Librarian Laurent, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-19
Updated: 2016-05-19
Packaged: 2018-06-09 12:17:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 983
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6906847
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JustDrinkTea/pseuds/JustDrinkTea
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Laurent frowned. “Someone pulled the alarm,” he replied curtly.</p><p>“Again?”</p><p>“Again.” Laurent drew the word out.<br/> <br/>  <a href="https://ficbook.net/readfic/5171696">русский</a></p>
            </blockquote>





	In Case of Emergency

**Author's Note:**

> A warm-up prompt that went too far-- suggested by twitter user @noahcserny
> 
> Warning: not edited!

As far as Damen could tell, there hadn’t been an actual fire. 

Even if there  _ had  _ been, chances were high that it had been a small incident in one of the back rooms-- no reason really for him to be here. There was no smell of burning, no smoke, no general aura of panic that normally followed even the most harmless of sparks. But there  _ had _ been an alarm triggered, and as the saying goes:  _ duty calls. _

In this case, duty calls  _ again _ would’ve been more appropriate, Damen considered as he strode through the library entryway. This would be the third time in two months a truck had been sent here on a false alarm. The department was starting to get annoyed.

Damen approached the front desk, the sound of his boots echoing loudly through the silence of the building. He had left his jacket with the truck, and was wishing he had done the same with his turnout pants-- or wishing, at least, that the A/C was working just a little harder. If the man working the counter noticed the large, geared up man walking towards him, he made no sign of it and continued his computer work diligently. 

This is, until Damen spoke. “Doesn’t look like there’s much of a fire here,” he said, resting his forearms casually against the high desk.

“Lucky for you.” The man-- his nametag read  _ Laurent--  _ let his eyes flicker away from the monitor just long enough to glance at Damen’s t-shirt, his bare arms. Damen was suddenly very aware of how grimy his shirt was. “Doesn’t look like you’re very prepared for one.” Laurent continued typing.

“Yeah, well, you’re kind of working up a reputation around here.”

Laurent raised an eyebrow. “ _ I  _ am or the library is?”

Damen breathed a laugh. “Both, I guess; you always seem to be here when I get the call.”

“Surprisingly enough, I work here.” He finished with his computer work and reached down to rummage with something beneath the desk-- Damen could hear the stacking of books. “If this is some kind of interrogation, fireman, you’re not doing a very good job.” Laurent moved up, dropping the stack of novels onto the counter where Damen’s arms weren’t taking up space.

“It’s Damen, actually.”

“Fireman Damen, then.” Laurent opened the top book to the inside cover, slipping out the check-out card and stamping it quickly. 

“Sure. That.” Damen couldn’t help but wish he had the man’s undivided attention. He reached forward and placed a hand on top of the stack, earning him a very annoyed look. But it was eye contact nonetheless, and Damen would take it. “I just need to know what happened so I can file the report and be on my way. Hopefully that’s not too inconvenient for you?”

Laurent frowned. He looked at Damen’s hand, and then back to his face. “Someone pulled the alarm,” he replied curtly.

“Again?”

“ _ Again.”  _ Laurent drew the word out. 

“You wouldn’t happen to know anything about that, would you?” Damen asked, leaning forward a little.

“I wouldn’t.”

“And you’re sure about that?”

Laurent closed even more of the space between them, leaning on the desk now himself, his eyes bearing down hard on Damen’s. “Sweetheart, I’m positive.” Damen could feel Laurent’s breath on his face.

They stayed like that for a while-- probably for what was too long to be considered socially acceptable, but Damen had lost count of his breaths. Finally, though, he pulled away, if only slightly. Laurent mirrored this action. “So if you knew it was a false alarm, why didn’t you call?”

Laurent shrugged halfheartedly. “Didn’t actually think you’d come again.”

Damen cracked a crooked grin. “In case of a real emergency, someone has to be here to save you.”

With that it seemed Laurent finally lost his patience. He brought down the stamp, hard on the top of Damen’s hand. “My hero,” he said with his own sly grin, watching with clear amusement as Damen yelped and pulled his hand back. Laurent closed the book cover, setting it aside casually and moving to open the next in the stack. “Now may I return to my job? Some of us actually have work to accomplish today.”

Damen frowned, but tried to regain his cool. He hid his now dated hand behind the desk and rested his other elbow on the countertop. “And what about after work?” He sounded more confident than he probably looked.

Again, Damen was met with a raised eyebrow. Maybe he didn’t sound all that confident, after all. He tried again. “It’s just… I’m trained to spot fire hazards, y’know. I’m worried you’ll cause a spark.”

Laurent’s eyebrow climbed higher. “Because I’m so hot?” he clarified.

“...that was the idea, yeah.”

“ _ Fireman Damen, _ ” Laurent mocked, leaning back in his chair with fake horror plastered on his face. “Are you saying you want me to stop, drop, and roll with you?” The horror slowly turned to a grin.

Damen at once realized he’d made a mistake. “I want you to  _ stop-- _ ”

“Need someone to handle your hose? Slide down your pole?”

“Oh my god.” Damen buried his face in his hand.

Laurent smiled wider, unable to help himself. “If I get hot enough, does that mean you’ll come faster?” 

“Okay, that one wasn’t even that good of a pun!” 

Laurent was laughing now, hiding his red face behind a pale hand. It took him a minute to calm down, shaking his head and trying to silence himself behind his fingers. Finally, he took a deep breath. “I’ll tell you what-- I’ll give you my number  _ and _ a personal guarantee you won’t get anymore false calls here.”

“How can you promise that?”

“I have my ways.” Again, Laurent leaned forward against the desk, waving his stamp in the air. “Now, did you want me to stamp my number, or should I write it down?”

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading my trash fic.
> 
> For those of you waiting for Union not Graced by God, don't worry! It's coming very very soon!!
> 
> UPDATE: If you haven't already, please go take a look at [this art](http://pillowboat.tumblr.com/post/144641912060/) that my friend Jade drew for this fic! It's awesome!  
> \-----  
> Find me @[Twitter](http://www.twitter.com/justdrinktea) and [tumblr](http://www.justdrinktea.tumblr.com)!


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